Women!

Women! is a novel about women. The main character, Shan, believes the women in her life are 'willing slaves of the West'. The book takes the form of a memoir but is considered a novel due to the potential unreliability of human memories. Shan takes the reader on a bumpy ride through the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Japan, and Australia over sixty-six years. Book 1: “Crying Mothers”, describes Shan's childhood and coming of age against the background of the Summer of Love.

In “The Spirit of the Fox”, Shan unravels the traumas of childhood with her American psychiatrist, Doctor Vossberg in Tokyo. Vossberg is not licensed to prescribe medication in Japan. They must walk through the storm unarmed. Vossberg refers her to the Zen practitioner and 'nun in the wild', Tomato-Chan.